FGU Images and Layers Demo Titles

[JohnD]

Carl, can you comment on the in game view for these maps? Will it be strictly top down or will there be camera movement possible to allow something approximating a 2d map view or something else?

[JohnD]

I also see applications with passageways that go over / under other passageways (currently very difficult to work with in a VTT.

Oh yes there are many really nice maps out there that would benefit from this.

[pindercarl]

Carl, can you comment on the in game view for these maps? Will it be strictly top down or will there be camera movement possible to allow something approximating a 2d map view or something else?

I can't comment on additional views at the moment. I'm not being coy about it. There is a significant amount of work the improve/update the existing image control before any extraordinarily new features can be added.

[JohnD]

I can't comment on additional views at the moment. I'm not being coy about it. There is a significant amount of work the improve/update the existing image control before any extraordinarily new features can be added.

No worries!

[LordEntrails]

While it is true that a big advantage of maps that are tiled withing FGU is the reduced network bandwidth and on-the-fly map creation, there are a few other advantages that are not immediately evident in the demo (in part because all of the features are not present, or because they do not directly relate to tiles).

1) Once the layer opacity is exposed, you'll be able to adjust the opacity of layers. For example, you could put the tree foliage layer above the tokens and decreased the opacity. This would allow you have the foliage on the map, but still see tokens that are below the tree cover.
2) Roof ripping. An image of the roof of a building can be placed over the building itself. Once the players are inside of the building, you can hide the roof layer. In this way, the contents of the building wouldn't be revealed until necessary.
3) Traps and secret doors. Keep your traps and secret doors hidden until the players trigger or discover them.

I had not thought of these possibilities. But now of course how am I going to have a building larger on the inside than that outside? (Like so many CRPG's have!)

Keep up the good work, you're getting us all anxious

[damned]

***guessing here - no insider knowledge***

tabletop connect showcased a number of 3d mapping elements including building 3d maps in-game.
that is going to use at least some of the same tiling mechanisms etc so its quite possible this is an early step towards some of Carl's cool stuff.

[Moon Wizard]

As Carl mentioned, the priority is to make sure we can at least do what we do today with as much backward compatibility as we can get. Of the things we have talked about overhauling for FGU, image records and token assets are the primary targets. It's a very iterative process bringing up a system with backward compatibility as well as maintaining existing code, so we don't want to talk too much about our planning. We have "many" plans, but we're not sure which ones will make the final cut for the first version of FGU.

Cheers,
JPG

[Gooberosity]

I'm curious about the graphics implementation given the current FG build on Mac and Linux rely on Dx9 wine emulation.

The Unity engine has multi-platform support. I am sure it requires a bit more work, so I don't know exactly how many platforms FGU will support, but here's a link to Unity's multi-platform page. Quite a few choices!

https://unity3d.com/unity/multiplatform

[damned]

The Unity engine has multi-platform support. I am sure it requires a bit more work, so I don't know exactly how many platforms FGU will support, but here's a link to Unity's multi-platform page. Quite a few choices!

https://unity3d.com/unity/multiplatform

Being able to export a client for Android or Xbox doesnt mean that it will be usable or enjoyable to use. The current UI/UX doesnt really lend itself to touch or console controllers for example. Porting to other devices is a far bigger job than simply being able to export a client app that will run.

[Gooberosity]

Being able to export a client for Android or Xbox doesnt mean that it will be usable or enjoyable to use. The current UI/UX doesnt really lend itself to touch or console controllers for example. Porting to other devices is a far bigger job than simply being able to export a client app that will run.

Exactly. I was just pointing out that Unity's engine allows for much easier cross platform development, so relying on emulators for Linux or Macs MIGHT not be required, depending on whether or not FG publishes in those formats.